This invention relates to a device for sealing container intended to be connected to a recipient provided with connection means for the sealing device for supply of the contents of the container to the recipient, the connection means of which recipient is also arranged to open the sealing device upon application of the container. The sealing device is particularly useful for a liquid container which, when applied to a recipient, is to supply liquid to the recipient, for example an ink for an ink jet printer. However, this is only an example of several possible applications for the present device, which can be used everywhere, in principle, where it is desired to supply a more or less viscous or running material, inclusive of liquid, to a recipient via an applied container of some type without any considerable leakage arising when the container is applied or removed from the recipient.
In ink jet printers which are provided with ink via an added ink container closed by means of a slit rubber stopper, it is previously known to use a spout of about 5 mm thickness as a connection means, which upon application of the closed ink container perforates its slit rubber spout and is connected in this way to the ink of the container for supply thereof to the printer. However, this known arrangement has the embarrassing disadvantage that leakage arises at each change of ink container and especially in the cases when the container is not quite empty and further disadvantage that a removed container is not sealed in a satisfactory way.
In order that liquid might stream out of such a container, air must have access to the interior of the container, and, according to a known technique, this is achieved by means of a narrow hose which is placed in and extends through the rubber spout located in the container. The narrow hose permits leakage of liquid at application of the container to the printer, until the interior orifice of the hose comes over the liquid level within the container. When that interior orifice is not positioned on the printer, the liquid in the container is in contact with the air, which implies a certain loss of liquid through diffusion.
Another disadvantage of this known arrangement is that leakage may arise via the air hose as soon as the whole printer is tilted or laid on its side with the ink container in position, due to the fact that the interior orifice of the air hose normally being over the liquid level, is brought below the same when the printer is considerably aired. Changes in pressure and temperature may result in great leakage in this connection.
Attempts have been made to eliminate the leakage via the stopper of the liquid container by replacing the spout of the ink jet printer by a narrow cannula which is made to perforate a rubber membrane arranged in the container, and replacing the rubber stopper upon the application of the ink container to the printer in the same way as when handling injection solutions. However, these attempts have not been satisfactory but have pointed at several practical problems and some disadvantages of the same type as those described above. Moreover, the problem remains with the air supply, to make it possible for the ink to stream out of the container.